This Saturday’s Reel 13 Indie movie (airs at 11:10 p.m. on Saturday, May 24) is a rare opportunity to hear some music that was almost lost to time. While the movie is not about music per se, director and star (and music aficionado) Matt Dillon selected a spectacular soundtrack with Cambodian music from the 60s and 70s, from stars of the day. The movie itself is also rarely screened on television. See preview.

When the Khmer Rouge took over Cambodia in 1975, it so drastically reordered society that the previous modes, which included, of course, music, were destroyed. Artists like Sinn Sisamouth, Ros Serey Sothea and Pan Ron were imprisoned, transplanted, sent on marches: all manner of social horrors visited upon the country’s most beloved singers. But their legacy persists today, thanks (in part) to the internet:

Sinn Sisamouth
Basically the ‘Frank Sinatra’ of Cambodia (pictured)–his popularity was unequalled in the decades before 1975; he was considered a national treasure. While Sisamouth was one of 1.5 million to die at the hands of the Khmer Rouge, his children survived. One of them, Sinn Chan Chaya, makes an unusual appearance on the City of Ghosts soundtrack.
See Wiki on Sisamouth
Listen to samples of Sisamouth’s work

Ros Serey Sothea
City of Ghosts contains three tracks from Sothea, who often also sang with her brother. Her work has a harder edge; her voice sails over rock/psych tracks from the late 60s/70s. Her story is sad, too: forced to marry one of Pol Pot’s assistants, she later disappeared.
See Wiki on Serey Sothea
Listen to samples of Serey Sothea’s work

Dengue Fever
Dengue Fever’s story isn’t so tragic: they’re a contemporary American group working in the Khmer mode, with a young Cambodian pop star (Chhom Nimol) with a fluid, spectacular voice as their lead singer. Their work has been profiled in the documentary Sleepwalking Through the Mekong, and they will be performing at Central Park’s Summerstage on July 5, 2008. The soundtrack to City of Ghosts contains one of their songs.
See their myspace site for samples and info.

A documentary about these artists, Don’t Think I’ve Forgotten, is currently in production.